It’s No ‘Bridesmaids’ Sequel: Universal Setting Up Second ‘Best Man’

Today in “I’m sorry, what?” sequel news, Deadline Greendale reports that Universal Pictures has decided to go ahead with a sequel to 1999’s The Best Man. As if that news was not already somewhat bizarre enough (or at least flat-out unexpected), the Deadliners seem to think this is in direct response to the studio’s desire for a Bridesmaids sequel, a quest that has apparently left the Universal executives so desperate for a wedding-based property that they’ve thrown dry rice at their entire library of nuptial-themed flicks and given a sequel greenlight to whichever one collected the most grains. Apparently.

No matter what the process was for the studio to pick this particular film for another go-round, they’ve reportedly set the film’s original writer and director, Malcolm D. Lee (Undercover Brother, Roll Bounce, and Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins), to write, direct, and produce the sequel. Lee seems set on bringing back the film’s original cast, thanks to a recent reunion dinner with the various talents involved who all seemed warm to the idea. Despite the fact that the film may not spark much recognition in casual movie-going audiences (after all, movies that are more than a decade old are already getting the remake treatment), Lee’s first film actually included a great depth of emerging talent – including Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Sanaa Lathan, and Regina Hall.

Don’t remember The Best Man? Yeah, neither did I.

Lee’s comedy focused on the titular best man, writer Harper (Diggs), as he readies for the nuptials of his football player pal (Chestnut). Of course, the film is a wedding comedy, so all manner of hi-jinks and disasters ensue – Harper has recently penned an auto-biography that includes a mention of how he slept with the bride-to-be, he has a girlfriend he’s not sure of, and yet another flame wants to try for romance again. Weddings just make people crazy, man. I have never seen the film, but I bet I can guess how it ended. What I can’t guess, however, is just how a sequel will fit in to that. Is someone getting remarried? Will it really be as simple as that?

A sequel, however, does provide Lee and Universal with the opportunity to correct the Photoshop nightmare that is the poster for their first film, which appears to show a wedding where every member of the bridal party’s head was just a touch too big and too tilted for their actual body.

Kate is an entertainment and culture writer and editor living in New York City. She is also a contributing writer for VanityFair.com, Cosmopolitan.com, RollingStone.com, Vulture, MTV.com, Details.com, The Dissolve, Screen Crush, New York Daily News, Mental Floss, and amNY. Her previous work can also be found at MSN Movies, Boxoffice Magazine, and Film.com. She lives her life like a French movie, Steve.

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